


trembling, hoping, lingering, flying

by Arithra



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemon Touching, I suppose this is Acadimilix, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Time Skip, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24506890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithra/pseuds/Arithra
Summary: A routine mission during the academy takes a turn for the worse when Dimitri gets hit by an unidentified spell and Felix is forced to have more contact with him than he wanted. The aftermath of the incident, however, might just help him regain something that he had thought was lost forever.Or: Daemon! Au Dimitri and Felix are forced to take a look at some of the misconceptions between them.--Felix bit out the answer anyway. “I’ll deal with it.”He stepped past the boar towards Aurelia. None of the other’s stopped him, though he heard Annette say his name but leave the sentence unfinished. As he knelt next to Aurelia, Felix felt incredibly uncomfortable and awkward.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 32
Kudos: 115





	trembling, hoping, lingering, flying

**Author's Note:**

> A quick explanation for those not familiar with the daemon-verse: Daemons are the physical manifestation of a person's sould. When someone is young their daemon can change shape at will, but as peoplr grow older Daemon's settle into one shape and are 'stuck' in that if you will. Settling is supposed to be a good thing and part of growing up.  
> Given that a daemon is basically a person's soul, people don't touch other people's daemons. Daemons and daemons can touch as they wish however. Generally, the relationship between daemons is similiar to that of their humans. 
> 
> Thanks to @Ostodvandi and @o3QuillFeathers for helping me when I got stuck on this and encouraging me!  
> Special thanks to @edelgardlesbian for beta reading this fic. The idea for Ferdinand's daemon also comes from her.
> 
> The title of the fic is from Alexander Pope’s poem “The Dying Christian to his Soul”.

**trembling, hoping, lingering, flying**

It was supposed to have been a routine mission fitting for students of the Garreg Mach Officers Academy. Bandits on the highways that harassed the merchant caravans. Nothing they hadn’t done before countless times, only as it turned out this group of bandits wasn’t quite what they seemed.

They were well organized, well equipped and well trained. Deserters maybe, but certainly not common bandits: Common bandits would not have managed to shatter their formation so easily and break them up in smaller groups. Felix found himself together with the boar, von Aegir, who the professor had dragged along despite him being a member of the Black Eagle House, Ashe, and Annette. Could have been better, could have been worse. He was honestly just the slightest bit impressed that these bandits had managed to drag his lapdog from the boar’s side. Maybe it had been planning. The bandits had known they - or at least someone - were coming. The road had been a trap, and the bandits had positioned themselves so that they could easily drive them apart. People generally didn’t stick around to get hit by fireballs. Felix certainly hadn’t.

Common bandits typically did not have members who were capable of the higher magics. These were better trained even that Miklan’s minions had been at the end of last month. And even their daemons were not common; they were trained for combat as few people’s were. 

Felix cursed under his breath as he deflected the blows of his opponents. Next to him, Jasper hissed and took a swipe at the fox daemon who lunged for him. As a cat, even a bigger cat, he was smaller than the fox, but what he lacked in size he made up with speed and skill. His black fur gleamed in the sun that fell through the foliage, and for once the white ear and his grey-white back legs did not stick out and make him a target.

Bandits should not be equipped with steel swords. A lance pierced through the man Felix had pushed back, and the fox burst into golden dust. For a moment he thought it was the boar, but instead he came face to face with Ferdinand von Aegir, who gave him a cheerful smile. Felix gave him a nod of thanks, before returning his attention back to their opponents. 

He allowed himself a moment to take stock of the situation: Ashe and Annette were backing each other up and keeping the mages and the one remaining archer in check, while the boar kept the close combatants away from them. 

Felix was satisfied to see that they were winning. The bandits originally outnumbered them, but by now their numbers had been reduced to six: two mages, two soldiers that the boar and Ashe were dealing with, the axe wielder that Ferdinad had moved to engage, and the archer who would be Felix’s next target. 

He chanced a look down at Jasper by his feet and noted with satisfaction that his cat daemon had already clocked onto the hen that sat at the archer’s feet. As one they moved forward. It quickly became obvious that the archer had lost track of the number of opponents. An amateur mistake that would cost him his life. Felix struck quick as a viper. His first swing not only disabled the man's weapon, it cut through the string of his bow, leaving him to scramble backwards. Felix did not give him the chance to recover instead he struck forward. A clean and quick killing blow. 

Jasper made a sneezing sound, likely because of the gold dust remains, and a teasing remark was at the tip of Felix’s tongue when Dimitri screamed.

Felix whirled fast enough to see Aurelia, Dimitri’s lioness, drop like a stone. He was not the only one who reacted. The mage that had attacked the prince was cut into pieces as Annette hurled a vicious wind spell his way. Felix lunged for the other mage while Ashe sent an arrow through the soldier who had advanced on the fallen form of the prince. Ferdiand took down his opponent as well and moved to back out the rest of them. His foxhound let out a howl as it threw itself at the last man’s dog daemon, but Aengus, Annette’s rabbit daemon, was faster and his sharp teeth rippen open the dog's throat, before von Aegir’s foxhound could even reach it. His human dropped, dead before he hit the ground. 

Felix rushed over to the boar and turned him around. The relief that hit him when he saw the rise and fall of his chest was embarrassing. 

Annette fell to her knees next to him, her hands nervously fluttering through the air, a healing spell already at her fingertips. But there were no wounds on the boar. He was breathing, but seemed to be knocked out or paralized by something, his blue eyes staring into nothing and face slack. Felix was glad he had noticed the movement of his chest first, because otherwise he would have thought him dead. He glanced at Annette and found her frowning.

“Annette?” Felix asked, for once ignoring the rest of the battle between them. Annette had placed her hand on Dimitri’s chest and sent the faith spell pulsing through him. It did nothing.

“It’s not like a sleep spell…” she mumbled, and furrowed her brow in concentration while the light of her spell changed slightly. “Not this either…”

Felix watched as the furrow between her brows deepened with each different spell that brought no difference to the boar’s state. He didn’t like it.

“Felix?” He tore his gaze away from Annette and the boar at Jasper’s call. His daemon was still pressing himself against Aurelia, licking her nose and nudging her while Aengus hopped around in distress. The lioness showed no sign of waking either. Felix could feel Jasper’s distress rebound back to him, and he could not stop his face from reflecting it. 

“Annette, can you do anything?” To his consternation she shook her head. Felix gave a sharp look and looked at the boar again. There was no change, and Felix refused to acknowledge the spike of distress the sight of those sightless eyes sent through him. 

There was a sound from somewhere in the woods. Felix categorized it as people approaching them, but his focus was still on the boar. Ferdinand, the only one who wasn’t crouched on the ground, pursed his lips, but his daemon - she had some fancy name Felix couldn’t remember - started talking first.

“We need to go. Those aren’t our classmates.”

Annette stiffened and raised her hands from the boar’s chest, while Ashe rose from his crouch, both willing to defend the boar. Felix got to his feet as well. “Can you guess how many there are?”

He addressed Ferdinand, but the question was obviously meant for his daemon, who had much sharper ears. Ferdinand looked down to his dog daemon, who was still staring intently into the direction of the faint noises.

“Too many.” She informed him gravely, casting a look at Dimitri and Aurelia. Felix internally rolled his eyes at the noncommittal answer, but he understood well enough that she did not believe they would be able to fight off the coming party while having to defend the boar and his daemon.

“Then we need to move.” Annette concluded out loud, scooping up Aengus. She was right, but they had one more problem. Felix grimaced and Ferdinand shifted uncomfortably next to him.

“How will we move Relia?” Jasper asked the question that was going through all of their minds. No one had an answer for him.

As a juvenile lioness, Aurelia weighed about as much as a human, if not more so. The boar had no problem carrying her around, but none of their daemon’s had his strength. If she was still unsettled and thus still able to change her form, this might have been possible, but Aurelia had returned settled from Duscur. Felix’s father had nearly cried at seeing her look so alike to King Lambert’s Berenike. After Aurelia, Ferdinand’s foxhound was the next biggest daemon, and Aurelia was at least three times her weight.

Standing on the lioness’ back, Jasper gave Felix a pleading look, his fur fluffed up in distress. Felix wanted to card his fingers through it until he calmed down, but there wasn’t any time for that now. He also knew what Jasper wanted him to do, and the thought alone made him sick.

The worst thing about it was, that he knew there was no other choice. Barely holding back a shudder of revulsion at what he was about to do, Felix knelt down again and half turned the boar so he could rip the fancy blue cape he always wore from his back. Felix ignored Annette’s squeak of surprise and stood up again. 

He turned to look at Ferdinand. “You take the boar.” Felix said, gesturing to the still form on the ground. 

Ferdinand nodded sharply and stepped towards them, before pausing. “What about..?” he made a gesture towards Aurelia.

Their gazes met and Felix felt his lips curl in disdain, even as his fingers were convulsively clenching around the cloak. From what he saw in the Aegir heir’s eyes, the other was very much aware what Felix was going to do, there was no need for him to ask.

Felix bit out the answer anyway. “I’ll deal with it.”

He stepped past the boar towards Aurelia. None of the other’s stopped him, though he heard Annette say his name but leave the sentence unfinished. As he knelt next to Aurelia, Felix felt incredibly uncomfortable and awkward. When they had been children, he used to be fairly comfortable around Aurelia, too comfortable even some might have said. It had only changed after Duscur, when Aurelia had started stickling as close to Dimitri as possible, and Dimitri had kept everyone away from him - even Felix. (It had felt like a betrayal, but it was not Duscur that had opened Felix’s eyes to the truth, even though maybe it should have been.) Aurelia hadn’t been a lioness when they were children either. In fact even when she had changed form almost everyday, felines were something she had avoided.

“Help me with this.” he instructed Jasper curtly and held the cloak out for him. Fortunately, Jasper understood him quickly. With all the nimbleness his cat form allowed him he set to the task of covering as much of Aurelia with the cloak as possible, prodding those parts that were not covered under it as best as he could. 

They had used to make a game of it as kids, wrapping themselves up in blankets and cuddling together. It was forgivable in children. Felix used to be almost familiar with the weight of Aurelia on his back over the blanket when they had sleepovers. She had been a puppy then, or a bunny. She used to think felines were uncomfortable, she had not liked the tail and the paws and had insisted that it felt wrong. But it wasn’t only Dimitri who had died at Duscur. 

Behind him, Felix heard the sound of Ferdinand picking up the boar and slinging him over his shoulder. He chanced a look back at them, but the boar was unresponsive still. 

When he looked back to the daemon in front of him, he found her covered with the blanket as best as Jasper could manage. 

The sound of armored figures was coming closer, there was no time to waste. Felix braced himself for the inevitable, and reached out to sweep the lioness in his arms. She was heavier than he had expected, limp as she was, but Felix could carry her all the same. 

“You have her?” Jasper asked, curling round his feet in distress and clearly pushing back the urge to climb up and look down at Aurelia himself. Felix grunted in answer.

Ferdinand caught up to him, the boar slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and just as inactive. Felix’s saw him swallow after his gaze flickered down at Aurelia wrapped up in the cloak, and held in Felix’s arms. But they had no choice, Ferdinand met his gaze evenly. “If you have Aurelia, then let us move.”

Felix gave a sharp nod and shifted his burden slightly, so he had a better grip. The others started walking. Ashe taking point and Annette waiting to secure the rear. Felix moved to follow Ferdinand, but his steps jostled Aurelia slightly and her limbs moved. 

Felix felt the fur on his hand, and had half a heartbeat to brace himself. 

\--

One moment Dimitri was fighting, and the next all he knew was pain. Screaming, he felt himself fall, but there was nothing he could do. The pain lasted only a moment; it was different from _that_ agony in Duscur that had lingered for far too long. Dimitri knew how to deal with pain, what followed after the initial onslaught of whatever spell had been thrown at him was worse.

Numbness and cold that crawled through his limbs, making him feel an agonizing disconnect from his own body. He could not feel his legs, his arms or his torso, not even the feeling of his breath over his lips. The only reason he knew he was still breathing was because he wasn’t feeling lightheaded. He could barely see. it was like a white veil had been laid across his eyes, and the movement in front of him had been turned into vague blurs at best. 

But what scared him the most was that he could not feel Aurelia. Not even the muted connection, the feeling of disconnect that he had grown agonizingly used to. Panic clawed up in him, but he could not feel it reflected in his body. Somehow that was worse. The only thing that still seemed to work was his ears, so Dimitri forced himself to focus on that. 

There were still sounds of fighting, and he hoped that his lack of participation in the fight would not bring harm to any of his classmates. Dimitri focused on the fight, trying to make out what little he could, when suddenly, something warm rushed through him. It was uncomfortable and intrusive and if he could he would have jerked away from it. But instead, he was a prisoner in his own body. The feeling changes slightly, gaining a tingling understone, that was almost familiar. 

Dimitri focused on the familiarity of it to beat back the panic. 

Then-

“Annette?” It was Felix’s voice immediately above him. The panic receded, and Dimitri made the connection between the intrusive feeling and Annette. Faith Magic. That explained why it was somewhat familiar, though he did not know why it felt so uncomfortable. Usually, Faith magic aroused a soothing feeling, but now it felt it kept pushing through something inside of Dimitri, as if something kept pushing back.

“Annette, can you do anything?” Felix again, insistent and demanding, but still strangely gentle. It had been a long time since Felix had talked to him like that. Dimitri waited for Annette’s answer, but none came. Instead, there was the sound of movement.

An unfamiliar voice: “We need to go. Those aren’t our classmates.”

And the scramble as more people got to their feet.

“Can you guess how many there are?” Felix taking charge, addressing someone away from Dimitri.

“Too many.” Was the answer he got. 

“Then we need to move.” That was Annette, above him, breaking her silence. But they did not move, not really. Dimitri heard some of them shifting in their stance. Even Dimitri could feel the tense silence that came over them, though he did not know why.

It was Jasper who spoke, Felix’s cat daemon, who looked more fluffy than any of the cats in the monastery could ever dream of being. Aurelia had once told him that she wanted to cuddle him, but he shied away from her. A familiar experience. 

“How will we move Relia?” 

Aurelia. Dimitri would have sobbed with relief. She was still here. He might not be able to feel her, but she was still here. 

And despite Dimitri’s relief, it did not take him long to figure out why his classmates were bothered. Aurelia was too big for any of the daemons to carry. Dimitri hoped that if they had to leave her behind they would leave him as well. Suddenly, there was a sense of movement. Dimitri felt himself being turned and shifted, but it was a distant feeling, and the renewed awareness of the disconnect made Dimitri uncomfortable. 

Felix broke the silence. “You take the boar.” 

It was likely Ferdinand, the one closest to him in size, and the one most able to lug around heavy objects, or in this case incapacitated classmates. Someone, “What about..?” Ferdinand shifted. 

“I’ll deal with it.” Felix said, and then his footsteps went away from Dimitri. “Help me with this.” The rustling of fabric.

And another person knelt down next to Dimitri. Again he was moved, again the feeling of disconnect disturbed him. The smell of some fancy soap hit Dimitri’s nose, Ferdinand had picked him up then. Dimitri could hear him breathing. Footsteps on the grass, someone to he left shifted and then-

Then Dimitri felt _something_. 

It was different from touch, different from the intrusive feeling of magic, different-

It was something he had felt before. 

“You have her?” Jasper asked and Felix grunted in answer.

Ferdinand swallowed. “If you have Aurelia, then let us move.”

Aurelia. (They were not leaving Aurelia behind. Felix wouldn't. Not even after everything. Not like Glenn, who-) Felix had Aurelia. Felix had picked her up, Felix was carrying her. Felix was touching her. (But no, not quite, yet Dimitri could feel-)

And then there was something. He could feel his frayed connection to Aurelia, distant, and almost out of reach, but there again, and it wasn’t just Aurelia. (Felix was touching Aurelia.)

It was like he was trying to hear sounds underwater. Only it wasn’t sounds.

Touching a daemon was generally considered to be a taboo. It was one of the highest forms of intimacy, and even happily and lovingly married pairs could spend their whole lives without ever touching their partners' daemons. There were exceptions for very young children, who did not yet understand, but even parents did not touch their children’s daemons deliberately. 

To touch a daemon was to touch someone’s soul. And you could not touch another person’s soul without laying part of yourself bare. 

Felix was touching Aurelia. Not completely, or at least it did not _feel_ like it. Not truly, because whatever was affecting Dimitri and his connection to Aurelia, was affecting the feedback that was supposed to happen as well. 

But- But Dimitri felt enough. And, despite what he had feared sometimes when he lay awake in the middle of the night with only Aurelia and their shared doubt and terror for company, the emotion that was mirrored back at him was not hatred. There was anger, he thought, and maybe some disgust and concern in equal measure, and fear (of or for him?), but there was still- 

Care? Affection?

It felt like home. Like the safety and certainty that had been ripped away from him in Duscur. Like being curled up under a blanket and whispering late into the night. Surrounded on all sides. Warm. Happy. 

Inside of Dimitri something snapped into place. And he could feel Aurelia again and for a moment the feedback he got from Felix was as clear as the mountain pools in Faerghus. There was something warm and shaky and fragile. Like a candle in the dark. (Love.)

Felix did not hate him. Had he been standing, the relief that washed through him might have send him to his knees. 

Dimitri did not know what it was that Felix felt, but he felt himself shiver, felt suddenly the distant hold that Ferdinand had on him, the shoulder digging into his side. Next to Ferdinand, Felix let out a strangled sound. 

“Felix?” Annette asked from somewhere further behind. 

“Nothing.” But there was something strangled and shaky in his voice that made Dimitri feel scared. As sudden as the connection had snapped into place it faded and took Dimitri’s consciousness with it. 

\--

Felix had prepared himself for the rush of _something_ and when it hit him he was almost prepared. Confusion and helplessness and shame shot through him like a spike, and he choked back his discomfort. Below that there was anger and helplessness and yearning. It felt like someone was calling his name in the dark. Felix did not know why, but the thought made his eyes burn. The rush of emotions was not the only thing that happened, however. Felix had not been prepared for the weight in his arms to change. Where one moment there had been a lioness, heavy and unwieldy, in the next he was scrambling to not drop his burden.

The physical contact between them broke with his movement, but Felix barely noticed as the worry and helplessness he had been hit with disappeared and were pushed aside by the very real panic that was all his. Was Aurelia gone? Had she turned to dust? He cradled the cloak, and relief hit him in the gut like a punch. There was still something - someone - wrapped up in it.

“Felix?” Annete asked from behind him, concern clear in her voice. 

“Nothing.” he told her, but his voice sounded odd even to his own ears, so he wasn’t surprised when instead of letting the matter drop she caught up to him with quick strides. Jasper pressed against his leg, almost causing him to stumble. Then he felt claws prick into his legs as his daemon climbed him and settled onto his shoulder. Soft fur pressed into his neck, and Felix took a deep breath, and tried to give Annette a look that was hopefully reassuring - and distracting. His finger’s clenched in the cloak in his hands. Annettte’s eyes flickered down, widened in alarm and she-

On Ferdinand's shoulder Dimitri let out a sound somewhere between a moan and a groan, before going even more limp, a tension that had been in his body before disappearing. Ferdianand cursed uncharacteristically, and slung the boar downward again, laying him flat out on the ground, hand going to check his pulse.

Ferdinand relaxed, but Annette, who had whirled around towards them and away frm Felix, checked him with magic all the same. Felix didn’t pay attention to him.

“Is that?” Jasper whispered on his shoulder, his whiskers tickling Felix’s cheek. Felix nodded. “How?” For that Felix had no answer. Aurelia had settled after Duscur. A lioness, as ill fitting as it seemed in Felix’s eyes, even before the boar had shown itself during the rebellion. She should no longer be able to change shape. 

Yet, that was exactly what she had done, because bundled up in the blue cloak was no lioness, but a rabbit. Her fur was light brown and fluffy, and she looked achingly familiar.

Jasper’s claws dug into his shoulder and he leaned down, stepped on Felix’s arm to get closer to her.

“Jas.” Felix snapped at him, but his daemon did not stop, instead dropping down into the bundle, landing half on top, half beside what could only be Aurelia. Felix tightened his grip on the cloak so the increase of weight would not rip it from his hands and drop them to the ground. Jasper gave him a look from where he was curling up around Aurelia. For a moment Felix thought he would start to argue with him - Jasper did that often, accusing him of lying to himself about the boar, but he only did so in private - but to Felix’s relief he did not. Instead he curled more firmly around Aurelia, all but wrapping himself around her, before he began to groom her ears. Felix looked away, and met Ashe’s gaze.

“Felix, what happened?” Ashe asked him. The Archer had fallen back from the front where he had been and made their way back to them and was now looking at him in concern. Ferdinand, who was in the process of picking up the boar again, paused and looked at him as well, brown eyes widened as he took in the lack of lioness in his arms. And with a speed that would have done any rouge proud the nobleman’s hand landed on the boar’s pulse point again. 

Again, Ferdinand relaxed after feeling a pulse, though it made his scrutiny return to Felix as well.

“I don’t know,” Felix said, answering Ashe’s question to the best of his knowledge. “But.. Aurelia changed form.”

Ashe’s eyes went wide in surprise and he heard Ferdinand gasp. Annette, however, only nodded. “She looks like a cute rabbit.” Aengus, still sitting in her arms and a rabbit himself, nodded.

“I thought his highness was settled?” Ashe asked unsure, raising his hand to stroke his own squirrel daemon’s head. 

“He was.” Felix said shortly, because everyone knew that. “Now he is not.” He glanced down at the boar still laying prone on the floor, before glancing at Aurelia.

“We don’t have time to discuss this.” Felix added.

Annette’s eyes widened suddenly, and she shot to her feet. Felix‘s hand almost jerked to his sword. “Do you think it’s due to whatever magic they used on him?”

Her question sent a rush of discomfort through Felix, and he found his gaze wandering to the boar again. What kind of magic could affect a person’s soul?

“I don’t know.” he said again, frustration entering his tone. “Maybe if we get moving again we can get back to the monastery and figure it out?” 

It came out sharper than intended, and Felix almost apologized as he saw Annette flinch at his tone, and Ashe take a step back. Ferdinand, however, cut him off before he could say anything else.

“I agree.” He smoothly hefted the boar over his shoulders again and rose to his feet. “There are still enemies in these woods, and if there is nothing immediate we can do for Prince Dimitri, it would be best to regroup.”

“Of course.“ Annette was quick to agree, casting an apologetic look in Felix's direction. Felix pushed down the guilt he felt for snapping at Annette of all people, and instead prepared himself to start walking again, carefully cradling Jasper and Aurelia.

\--

Ferdinand’s daemon led the way. Despite not being a real dog, and only sharing some of the characteristics of her animalistic species, she had no trouble tracking the rest of their classmates. To be fair, even Felix was more than capable of hearing them before they found them. The sound of whatever argument Ingrid and Sylvain were currently having was hard to ignore. He exchanged a look with Ashe who was walking next to him and saw the other boy’s lips twitch.

Any sort of levity fell away, however, as they stepped into the clearing. Despite the noise they were making their classmates and the professor were ready for battle, though their stances changed once they recognized them. It was not the only change however. Felix was taken aback by the shock and horror on their faces when they saw them. Slyvain’s face lost all color, Ingrid slapped her hand before her mouth, eyes widening, and Dedue made a choked noise. The professor was upon them before they could say anything. 

“What happened?” Her eyes were wild and her voice uncharacteristically sharp. Soh, her winged snake was flaring it’s hood on her shoulder. “How did-”

It was only then that Felix understood the cause of their shock, he wasn’t the only one.

“His Highness isn’t dead!” Annette blurted out. Some of the tension went out of the group, and Mercedes rushed towards him. Annette continued to explain, addressing the professor. “He was hit by some spell I couldn’t negate.” She looked to Mercedes who had reached Ferdinand’s side, and was waiting patiently for him to lay the boar out on the floor. Dedue had followed her and was gazing at the boar with an obviously concerned expression.

Annette was still explaining to the professor what had happened, but Felix barely paid any attention to their exchange. Ingrid and Sylvain approached him, the shock gone from their faces, but he could see that the effect still lingered. So for once, he did not even try to shrug off Sylvain’s arm when the other threw it around his shoulders, though he did sift the bundle in his arms away from the dangling arm. 

“Well,” his friend said, the strain not quite gone from his voice, but the smile back on his face, “that was one shock I could have done without.”

Brown eyes flickered to the prone form of the prince, still laid out on the ground, and then Sylvain opened his mouth to say something. He was cut off, however, by the professor’s voice. “Where is Aurelia?”

All chatter in the clearing stopped.

Annette’s eyes flickered to him. “Felix has her.”

All eyes landed on Felix. He squared his shoulder and set his jaw. Unconsciously, his grip on the cloak bundle in his arms tightened. 

The professor stepped away from Annette towards him. “Where is she?” she asked him calmly, though there was the slightest frown on her face. In response, Jasper stuck his head out of the cloak. “Here.” he informed them all, “But she still hasn’t woken up.”

All eyes went to the cloak cradled in Felix’s arms. Sylvain ripped his arm away from Felix’s shoulders. 

“That doesn’t look big enough to hold Aurelia.” Ingrid said with a strain in her voice. Felix pursed his lips. 

“She changed form.” He informed them blandly, but did not offer to unwrap Aurelia and present her to them. It felt wrong to do so. Especially with her back in that old form.

The professor’s lips pursed and her eyes flickered down, but she did not insist on seeing Dimitri’s daemon. “Did it happen when the spell hit him?” she inquired.

“No... when I was carrying her.” Felix answered with a shake of his head, he could not bring himself to mention the part where her paw had brushed against his hand. It was… bad enough that it had happened at all, he did not need other people aware of it.

Byleth studied him for a moment, then she nodded and turned away from him. “Mercedes, is there anything you can do for Dimitri?”

Mercedes looked up and shook her head. “No, professor, I’m sorry. I don’t know the spell that did this… though I think I have read about it.” She pursed her lips. “We should get him back to the monastery as soon as possible.”

No one argued with that. Dedue picked up the boar, which was probably the only reason he did not insist on carrying Aurelia. Anton, Mercedes’ badger daemon, had offered to carry her, but before Felix could have come up with an answer. Jasper had hissed out a sharp refusal and jumped back to his place on Felix’s shoulder. No one had brought the topic up after that, though Felix could feel their gazes on his back. Felix clutched the cloak that still held Aurelia closer to his chest, and very carefully did not think about the fact that he had been looking for a reason to refuse as well.

\--

Dimitri woke up in the infirmary with the professor sitting at his bedside, reading a thick magic tome. He spotted her as soon as he turned his head, even if he immediately regretted even that small movement. His groan of pain drew the professor’s attention to him and she closed that book and rose from her chair.

“Dimitri. It is good to see you awake.” Her voice was calm and even, but he noticed her relief all the same. Dimitri attempted to give her a smile, but it was probably more of a grimace. “What-” his voice was a croak, and Byleth carefully handed him a glass of water with a straw. She did not try to get him to sit up, which was probably wise.

There was something warm and light on top of him, a heating pillow maybe? Dimitri did not bother to check. Even the act of turning his head had sent a spike of pain through him, and the longer he was awake the more aware he became of the ache that seemed to be thrumming through his whole body. 

“What happened?” he asked after he drank some water. His voice was still raspy and his throat hurt, but the words were understandable.

“You were hit by a dark spell. Purging the effects put a strain on your body, but you should recover quickly now that you are awake.”

As soon as she mentioned the spell Dimitri remembered. He remembered the pain that appeared and was gone in an instant, then he remembered- 

“Aurelia!” Shame flooded through him at having forgotten about her even for a moment, and Dimitri sat up quickly, ignoring the hands of the professor and the pain that shot through him at the movement. His bond to Aurelia had been all but gone. Tenuous as it had always been after Duscur, the spell had -

“What happened to her?”

His voice was sharp, impolite. But for once, Dimitri did not care. If Byleth had not stepped back from the bed he would have grabbed her by the cloak and shook her until she got him the answer he wanted. She opened his mouth to answer him, but someone else preempted her.

“Dimitri.” A familiar yet off sounding voice whined and Dimitri looked down at his lap. The warm thing that had been on top of him had been a bunny. Small and fluffy with floppy ears and light brown fur. It took Dimitri an embarrassingly long moment to make the connection. 

“Aurelia...” He whispered and reached for her, his hands shaking both from the strain and the emotion. “How?” 

She shrugged and hopped closer, straight into his hands. Her nose twitched. “Don’t know.” 

Dimitri stroked her fur. It was much softer than it had been when she was a lioness, and she leaned into his touch. The mental touch, the bond between daemon and human that they were all born with, stayed a distant thing. Had been since they had been forcibly separated in Duscur. Dimitri had nightmares of it still. Aurelia falling behind them, unable to shift in her terror. Him begging Glenn to stop, and the relentless grip of Glenn’s hand on his arm, dragging him on and on. The terrified determination in Glenn’s eyes. The straining feeling as the distance between him and Aurelia grew and grew and grew until-

She found him among the corpses, and for a moment he had thought it was his father’s daemon coming for him. He had called her Berenike and even after she spoke he had not believed her in the beginning. 

“Feels better.” Aurelia added almost inaudibly and pulled Dimitri from his memoires. Dimitri swallowed at her confession.

The professor cleared her throat, starling him. For a moment he had forgotten where they were and that they weren’t alone. 

“Professor, I-” She cut him off with a shake of your head. 

“The spell that you were hit with should have dampened your connection to your daemon and hampered your movement. It is meant to cause confusion and panic… a reaction like yours… is irregular.” 

Her eyes seemed to be picking him apart piece by piece and Dimitri struggled not to shrink away under it. 

“I see,” He said as Byleth paused. She nodded. “The healers concluded that your reaction was likely due to the fact that you were separated.”

Dimitri could not help but flinch at the word and the bland way the professor said it. In his hands Aurelia’s heart beat as quickly as a hummingbird’s wings. 

“Yes. It happened in Duscur.” He did not know how he managed to get the words out so concisely. The professor nodded, but her scrutiny remained. 

“Is that,” his voice broke and he cleared his throat. ”Is that all professor?”

“No.” Byleth answered him calmly. “Even with you separated, the spell should not have caused her to change shape. It puzzled the healers but Lady Rhea reminded us that false settlings do happen, especially for young children in traumatic situations. It is likely that the shock of the spell hitting you caused the false settling to loosen.”

His memories were foggy, but he remembers bits and pieces. It had not been the spell that had the biggest impact. Dimitri swallowed roughly and his heart skipped a beat. Suddenly it felt like he had never drank anything at all and his breath rasped in his throat. Aurelia nuzzled into his hand. He glanced down at her, and forced himself not to clench his hands around her suddenly so fragile form.

Professor Byleth rose from her seat. The look on her face was sympathetic, or at least as sympathetic as her face could be. “I will leave you two in peace for now.” Then she paused as she stepped away from her chair. “Unless you have any questions?”

Mutely, Dimitri shook his head.

Byleth nodded. “Alright. If you need anything ring the bell.” She gestured to his bedside table. “The healers will be with you around lunchtime… and I imagine you classmates will come to see you as well.” She gave him a warm look. ”They were quite worried.”

She crossed the infirmary before halting in the doorway and turning to look at him again. “It’s good to see you awake.”

And then she left, leaving Dimitri and Aurelia alone. As soon as the door fell spit behind the professor, Aurelia looked up at him. 

“I can transform,” she told him, and in the next moment she was a mouse, small enough to hold in one hand and keep close. Dimitri raised her towards his face despite the strain it put on his arms. Aurelia touched her nose to his, but with the touch she changed again. A bird, a rat, a squirrel, a hedgehog. Flittering between shapes like only a child’s daemon did. 

There was freedom in the constant change and Dimitri allowed himself to breath. Then she was a rabbit again. A familiar form that she had often taken when they were young.

“I won’t ever be a lioness again.” She insisted and Dimitri knew that she must have felt his relief. Their noses touched again. “But I don’t know what I’ll be, Dima.” There was a wonder in her voice and the old childhood nickname only used by three others almost brought tears to his eyes. It reminded him of the feeling that had shook him so deeply. The brush of a hand against Aurelia’s paw. He swallowed. “Yourself… be yourself.”

\--

The Professor had been right about his classmates’ concern. One after another they came to visit him as soon as the news of his return to consciousness came. Dedue was the first. His friend was visibly relieved and chagrin to not have been at his side during the battle. Dimitri tried to calm him insisting he was alright and that the healers had assured him that there would be no lasting damage. The man from Duscur calmed down, but it was clear that he did not believe that there was no damage. Usually, Sveta, Dedue’s St. Bernard, while as reserved as her human, had never shied away from giving Aurelia a welcoming bump of her head, but today she remained at Dedue’s side and seemed unsure how to interact with Dimitri’s daemon. 

It probably did not help that Aurelia had not left Dimitri’s lap since he woke up. 

The issue persists through his other visitors as well. Ashe and Annette had very carefully not mentioned the topic of his daemon at all, despite being unable to resist sneaking glances. Mercedes had commented she was glad that they were both well, but made no further comment. Ingrid was much the same, although she seemed a bit sad about Aurelia’s change in form. Even Ferdinand stopped by to wish him a swift recovery. 

The last person to visit him that day was Sylvain, and, like so often, the oldest of his friends broke the norm. He strolled into the room with Edith slinking into the room at his heels, bushy tail raised high. Both Sylvain and the fox daemon gave them the same inspecting look before making their way over to Dimitri’s bedside. Then they started their spiel.

“Good to see you up, your highness.” Slyvain started.

“Yes, it was quite a shock to see you so limp.” Edith continued for him.

“Indeed,” Sylvain agreed, voice nonchalant, “with Aurelia nowhere in sight.”

“Thankfully, we found her safe in Felix's arms.”

“What?” The question had left Dimitri’s lips before he could think better of it. Sylvain and Edith smiled at him, in his lap he could feel Aurelia bury her head in the blanket. 

Sylvain chuckled an amused glint in his eyes. “Oh, did you not know, your highness?” Somehow it seemed to Dimitri that Slyvain’s slouch got even more indolent as he spoke, the satisfaction practically oozing off him. “Since none of the daemons with you were big enough to carry Aurelia, Felix wrapped her up in your cloak and then carried her.”

The words resonated with Dimitri. His memories of the incident were muddled at best, but some instances stuck out to him. One of them was his certainty that Aurelia would be alright, that they would not leave her behind. So Felix had carried her… that explained how the touch could have happened.

Sylvain continued talking, this time addressing Aurelia herself after Dimitri said nothing. “Although, as you are now that probably wouldn’t have happened. Jasper might have managed.” Sylvain’s smile got wieder as he spoke, but then it flickered slightly and his expression momentarily lost its cheer. “It’s good to see you both.” 

The genuine pleasure in Slyvain’s voice made Dimitri smile slightly and he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“Don’t be.” Edith told him, her voice almost stern. “It was not your fault, and after the initial shock, the matter was cleared up quickly.” she paused momentarily. “Although, we didn’t see you until we got to the monastery and Felix had to unwrap you.” The last part was directed directly at Aurelia. Edith was the first to do so since Dimitri had woken up. 

Sylvain nodded, then chuckled. “And Jasper definitely wasn’t impressed when that nun’s monkey daemon tried to grab you.”

“He looked twice his size suddenly!” Edith added, and the two of them laughed. “He and Felix have the exact same frown! I thought they might both hiss!”

Dimitri listened, still feeling slightly stunned. He knew that Felix had carried Aurelia, and they had touched accidentally during the walk to reunite with the rest of their class, but he had not anticipated that Felix had not handed her off as soon as he could. 

“Oh.” Aurelia mumbled, and Dimitri could feel her wriggle in excitement, he raised his hand and stroked his hand down her back. Her fur was soft beneath his fingers.

Sylvain and Edith stopped their laughter and focused on them again. 

“Are you alright?” Sylain directed the question at Dimitri, and his gaze flickered down towards Aurelia. “They said… a shock was needed to cause you to become unsettled.”

Dimitri did not answer. He wasn’t sure how.

“Does it have anything to do with why Felix is destroying training dummies?” he asked, his eyes a little too keen. 

“He brushed my paw, it fell… when he jostled me while walking.” Aurelia mumbled into the blanket and raised her paw upwards to emphasize her point. It didn't quite work. A lioness’ paw was quite different from a rabbits and Aurelia had obviously been used to her old form, even if she had not liked it. Dimitri took in her words. He had assumed that Aurelia also did not quite remember how the touch had come about. Dimitri had always been quite sure that it had been accidental, but now he wondered...

“I see…” Sylvain seemed a bit at a loss for words. One of his hands stroked down Edith’s back, while he carded the other through his hair, but his eyes remained on Dimitri, keen and knowing and a bit sad. “Was that the shock that, “ Sylvain seemed to grapple with himself to find the right word, “the shock that unsettled you?”

Dimitri had no answer for him, he just nodded and tried to beat down the flush that the memory invoked, but his silence seemed to make Sylvain unseasy.

“Are you alright?” there was true concern in Slyvain’s words, all signs of levity gone. “I know you and Felix... Don’t really-” Sylvain cut himself off, “Look. I know that another person touching-” another pause, and Sylvain changed tracks again. “I don’t know what you felt, but Felix-”

“It wasn’t bad.” Dimitri cut him off, his voice shaking slightly, but he did not want Sylvain to continue along that line even when it obviously pained him. “It… wasn’t…” he swallowed. “It was just unexpected.”

Sylvain studied him and after he seemed to find something on Dimitri’s face that made him smile warmly. “Oho!” The cheer was back, but softer now, threaded through with an undercurrent of relief. “Well, how about that.”

The teasing continued for a while. Eventually, Sylvain left him, promising to send Felix his way. Dimitri told him not to, knowing very well that that would likely have the opposite effect. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do or say when he came face to face with Felix again, but he did want to talk to him. For the longest time he had assumed Felix had hated him, but now he knew with a soul deep certainty that while Felix’s feelings for him might be complicated, hate was not among them. 

It gave him peace of a kind, but at the same time he was also aware that the connection went both ways and that brought a new kind of fear with it. What was it that Felix had felt? Would the feelings that Dimitri tried to keep contained be the thing that drove them apart for good?

\--

Dimitri was almost asleep by the time Felix came to visit him, almost, but not quiet. The infirmary was empty except for him and the lights were already dimmed for the night. All but the healer on night duty had already retired for the evening. Most people in the monastery were probably asleep. 

When Felix stepped into the room his steps made almost no sound on the floor. If not for the way that Aurelia had perked up in his lap, where she had settled for the night, Dimitri likely would not have noticed his approach.

But upon noticing Aurelia’s new focus, Dimitri turned his head towards the door, and came face to face with Felix. The other boy stopped in his tracks and looked like he considered turning around and leaving again. Felix's hair was down and wet: he likely came from the bath, a smart choice, if he had spent all afternoon training as Sylvain had indicated. 

Dimitri sat up slowly, his hands clenching in the blanket. Hoping that Felix would not turn around and leave.

“Felix.” he said, but couldn’t continue.

The other boy turned his face away, evidently avoiding the eye contact Dimitri had been trying to make. But he did not turn around. He did not walk away.

“You're still awake.” Jasper said disapprovingly. Dimitri shrugged and watched as Jasper’s tail swished through the air in agitation. 

Felix was still not looking his way. He had crossed his arms and was studying the wall. There were only two meters between Felix’s position and Dimitri’s bed, but the distance felt so much wider. Dimitri fidgeted. 

“Is Aurelia alright?” Jasper asked him, meeting Dimitri’s gaze with his own golden one. Dimitri nodded, and gestured down to his lap. Jasper’s eyes followed the movement with the focus of a predator, and then he moved. With quick steps he walked over to Dimitri’s bed and jumped on top of it, before confidently marching over the blanket to Aurelia.

Dimitri heard Felix’s exasperated call of the daemon’s name, and the quick steps as Felix moved over to the bed as well, but his focus was on the feline that marched across his leg, and then stopped before Aurelia.

Dimitri was frozen, but Jasper did not seem to notice, or if he did, he did not care. The cat also did not seem to care for the fact that he had technically just walked over Dimitri’s legs. It was more contact that he and Jasper had had since before Duscur. 

Jasper stood calmly on Dimitri’s lap, within hands reach, with only Dimitri’s pants and the thick blanket between them. If Jasper used his claws, they would easily sink through the material and into Dimitri’s leg.

The cat daemon did not pay attention to this. His footsteps were calm and confident and he walked around Aurelia, before sitting down in front of her. He was taller than her. It had been a long time since that had been the case. Dimitri could feel the warmth of Jasper’s body even through the sheets. 

“Are you alright?” Jasper asked Aurelia, this time directly. Aurelia looked up at him wonderingly, her nose twitching in excitement, before she nodded. It seemed that she did not know what to say either. Jasper’s tail switched back and forth in agitation. “You are still a bunny.”

As if in answer, Aurelia changed shape again. Suddenly, she was a mouse, almost sitting between the cat’s paws. Dimitri heard Felix’s breath catch, but he could not tear his eyes away. Jasper’s ears flickered on top of his head, his tail twitched and then he titled his head. “Mhm,” he said and Aurelia turned back into a bunny. She was still watching Jasper, all but quivering with uncertainty and excitement. Dimitri wanted to pet her, but Jasper was so close and he could not bring himself to move. Jasper, however, did not have the same problem, he stood again, took a couple of steps and then all but curled himself around Aurelia, before grooming her. Aurelia stiffened at first, but she relaxed immediately, and Dimitri could faintly make out the delight she was feeling. She cuddled into Jasper’s side and the cat daemon started to purr. 

Dimitri almost jerked in surprise as he felt the vibrations through the blanket, but he managed to abort the movement. Jasper threw him a short look, but then refocused his attention on Dimitri’s daemon instead, and left Dimitri to stare at them without a care for it. A cat indeed.

Despite the fact that canines and birds were the common shape that the daemons of house Fraldarius took, Felix had always been fond of cats. Sometimes Jasper had taken the form of cats so big that Felix had not been able to lift him, or the form of a fluffy cat with long fur. It had been his most common form. Jasper had always preferred shapes that were quick and nimble. Having Feix settle as a cat had not truly surprised anyone, despite the irregularity of it. 

Dimitri forced himself to tear his gaze away from the sight and look at Felix. Felix, who was close enough that if Dimitri would reach for him he could touch the other’s arm. Felix, who was watching the scene in front of him with an appalled almost betrayed look on his face. When he noticed Dimitri’s scrutiny his face turned blank, and he tore his gaze away with a click of his tongue.

“Jasper.” Felix called his daemon, but despite answering him, Jasper did not even give him a look. “No, Felix. I’m so tired of this.” His ears flickered in discontent. “We could have been here much earlier, but you kept running away.”

Dimitri saw Felix stiffen, but his old friend said nothing.

A tense silence lay over the room, and Dimitri did not feel like it was his place to break it. Eventually, Felix gave a long sigh and sat down in Dimitri’s visitor’s chair. Dimitri watched him and was startled, when Felix’s gaze caught his own. He couldn’t quite read the emotion that flickered through Felix’s eyes, but for once when Dimitri gave him a shaky smile Felix did not turn away in disgust. The silence continued for a moment broken only by Jasper’s steady purr. 

“I… Thank you for carrying Aurelia back, Felix.” Felix stiffened again at Dimitri’s voice, but that was all. Dimitri searched for the right words, but Felix, in a manner of speaking, found his own first.

“Boar.” Dimitri could hear him swallow. “You…”

Felix grimaced and finally tore his gaze away. There was a flush on his cheeks, visible even in the dimly lit infirmary. “You’re… you’re still Dimitri.” He sounded pained as he said it, but Dimitri’s own heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name from Felix’s lips. 

Dimitri swallowed, his throat felt tight and there was a burning in his eyes. “I,” he said, and his voice broke on the word. Felix looked at him again, and Dimitri saw his eyes widen.

“What are you crying for?” Felix snapped at him, but there was no anger in his voice, only confusion, and maybe panic. Surprised, Dimitri blinked at him. The movement of his eyelid made something warm trail down his cheek. He raised his hand and found to his surprise that he was indeed crying. 

“Oh…” he mumbled, and attempted to wipe the tears away. More kept coming. “Oh.” he repeated to himself. 

Felix had risen from his chair, and Jasper had stopped purring, and was shifting on Dimitri’s lap. Dimitri tried to continue to wipe the tears away. It didn’t work. They continued to fall. He sniffed. Why was he crying? He hadn’t cried since Glenn had dragged him through the flames in Duscur, since Aurelia was ripped from him, but that had been different… This wasn’t pain. Not quite.

Dimitri attempted to clear his throat. It was a strange croaking sound, and did nothing to help him regain his composure. He looked up and found Felix’s gaze again. The words tumbled from his lips before he could think of them. 

“You don’t hate me.”

It almost came out as a whimper. Felix’s eyes went wide and he moved his mouth without sound. 

“You don’t hate me.” Dimitri repeated, and this time they were steadier, but the wonder behind them was all that much cleared. He sniffed, and the tears kept coming. Felix held his gaze, he looked pained.

“Dimitri… I…” Felix grimaced, and raised his hand before letting it fall to his side. “I don’t.” he eventually said, but he could no longer look at Dimitri. “I… was afraid.” Dimitri saw him swallow. “Of you… for you… I don’t… at the rebellion...” another grimace, and a helpless shrug. Felix looked down, as if he had given up.

On Dimitri’s lap, Jasper shifted and moved away from Aurelia to walk across Dimitri’s leg. Dimitri chanced a look in his direction, and was too startled to even pull back when he came face to face with Jasper. He heard Felix breath catch, but the other said nothing. Then Jasper leaned forward. Dimitri could feel the tickle of his whiskers on his cheek and then Jasper’s nose against his cheek. Dimitri shivered. Jasper pressed on, fur stroke alongside Dimitri’s face and he felt-

There was anger. There was fear. For him. For his actions. Horror and heartbreak as he was pushed away, as Dimitri laughed with blood on his face and mania in his voice. Worry so thick he almost choked on it. Yearning for what used to be, for closeness and- there was warmth, care and affection that ran deep and true. Anger and uncertainty and a helplessness that Dimitri was all too familiar with. Dimitri breathed, raised his hands and stroked down Jasper’s back. The cat daemon started purring. And pressed closer still. 

Dimitri’s tears fell again, as he finally put a feeling to that last emotion. More tears fell, and then Dimitri wasn’t just crying he was full out sobbing. When they were children and DImitri had tried to stop crying because it wasn’t something a prince was supposed to do, Felix had once told him he was an ugly crier, but that Felix didn’t mind, he would keep it a secret. That he loved him still. That was the last emotion, the one he had not quite understood before: Love. Despite everything. After everything. Felix loved him still.

Dimitri heaved a breath and curled his arms around Jasper. The cat pressed close, uncharing of his face which was surely sticky with tears. A raspy tongue carded along his cheek, licking the tears away. Dimitri sobbed and sank into his pillow, Jasper in his grasp. Aurelia pressed against his leg to comfort him, but Dimitri wasn’t sad. 

“You,” Felix said, and the way his voice sounded, tight and muffled, made Dimitri look up from Jasper to Felix himself. “You’re still an ugly crier.” 

But Felix was crying too. Not sobbing like Dimitri was (like Felix had as a child), but calmly, quietly, almost as an afterthought. He wondered what he had felt from Dimitri. Had he felt the anger, the fear, the shame? His helpless desire to be close to Felix even as Felix showed no interest in it. The beast that Felix hated? 

As Dimitri watched him Felix wiped the tears on his cheeks away. New ones followed.

Felix huffed and turned his face away slightly, but not before Dimitri saw the slight curl of his lip. “Of course it would be because of you…” Dimitri heard him mumble.

Beside him Aurelia struggled upwards, before carefully hopping across Dimitri’s legs towards the edge of the bed. She paused for a moment and Dimitri watched as he tail twitched in agitation. He realized what she was going to do one heartbeat before she acted. 

“Felix,” she said, and when amber eyes landed on her she jumped. Felix caught her easily. And Dimitri watched as his eyes went wide in surprise. Then Felix's shoulders started shaking and he lowered his head, dark hair hid his face like a curtain. Dimitri stoked down Jasper’s back again and the feedback from the emotional loop of their connection ran through him. Shock and wonder and a fragile hesitant hope. Surprise and warmth and love, always love. 

There was still a lot left between them left unsaid, much of which should be put into words sooner or later. But for now this was alright. Aurelia was safe and warm under Felix’s hands as they carded through her soft fur and Jasper was warm and pliant in the circle of Dimitri’s arms. When Dimitri looked at Felix and met his gaze, and smiled at him, Felix's lips curled just slightly. Warmly. And Dimitri could feel the affection, deep and true, even after everything, roll through him.

It wasn’t that everything was alright, but it was a step in the right direction. The foundation of their relationship that Dimitri had thought lost forever, was still there. A bit battered, a bit broken, just like them, but still there. 

They would figure it out. 

(The thought was so hopeful that Dimitri almost started crying again. Instead he lay in the infirmary bed, felt the feedback form Aurelia, so much easier to make out since she was unsettled again, and relaxed under the steady purr of Jasper on his chest. 

Dimitri slept peacefully through the night. )

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this fic. Daemon!Au is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I thought it was a shame that we did not have one for Dimilix yet.


End file.
